Roy and Wanda Williams to Lead $10 million Campaign for Covenant
Posted on Feb. 8, 2006Men’s basketball Coach Roy Williams ’72 and his wife, Wanda ’72, are serving as honorary co-chairs of an effort to create a $10 million endowment for the Carolina Covenant, the University’s initiative to make a Chapel Hill education possible debt-free for low-income students.
Their role in the Carolina Covenant Campaign was announced before tip-off at Tuesday’s Carolina-Duke men’s basketball game.
The $10 million campaign to endow the Covenant is intended to generate income to fund the program’s scholarships and other related initiatives. These include grants to cover the cost of mandatory freshman orientation programs, which take place before students’ financial aid packages can take effect, and a mentoring program that matches first-year scholars with faculty and staff. The endowment also will fund training on personal and social skills development, including an etiquette dinner.
The University already has raised more than a third of the $10 million goal for the endowment drive, which is part of the Carolina First fundraising campaign that aims to raise $2 billion.
“With the Covenant, Carolina made a promise to students that college is affordable, no matter how much money your family makes,” UNC Chancellor James Moeser said. “This endowment drive will ensure that we can honor our promise. Coach Williams and Wanda have been great supporters of the Carolina Covenant. I very much appreciate their service as honorary co-chairs.”
As honorary co-chairs, the Williamses will host an annual dinner for major donors. Coach Williams also appears in a 30-second institutional television spot that promotes the Carolina Covenant in broadcasts of UNC athletic events.
The Covenant launched in fall 2004 with 224 freshmen. Eligibility requirements have since been expanded to cover a family of four with an annual income of about $37,000 or a single parent who makes about $24,000. That enabled 350 students to enroll as Covenant Scholars in fall 2005. They came to Carolina with an average high school GPA of 4.25.
“Covenant students have exceptional academic credentials, meeting every requirement that all of our students meet,” Moeser said. “They belong here and are proving that every day.”
Carolina’s creation of the Covenant came against the backdrop of steadily rising college costs. Nationally, the average student loan debt doubled to about $18,000 in just a decade. About one-fifth of the full-time students working log 35 or more hours a week. As a result, many low-income youth abandon plans for college – or drop out – because the burden of that debt and workload is too much.
In fall 2003, Carolina became the first major public U.S. university to announce plans for a program such as the Covenant. Since then, several universities, including Virginia, Maryland, Nebraska, Harvard and Brown, have created or announced plans for similar programs.
UNC consistently ranks among the national leaders in making education financially accessible to students. In its February issue, Kiplinger’s Personal Finance magazine recognized Carolina for a fifth consecutive year as the nation’s best value for top-flight academics and affordable cost. Along with offering the Covenant, Carolina meets the full need of middle-income students who qualify for need-based financial aid with financial aid packages comprising two-thirds grants and scholarships and one-third loans and work-study. Carolina was the only university in Kiplinger’s study that meets 100 percent of each student’s financial need.
Individuals interested in contributing to the Carolina Covenant Campaign can contact Elizabeth Dunn, senior associate vice chancellor for development at (919) 962-3292 or edunn@unc.edu.
